1948 Ford F1 - Theodore

It was early on Sunday morning in April at the Goodguys Del Mar Nationals, and I was frantic about picking the last Finest Five winners. I must have walked past Evan Bloom's '48 F-1 three times before I stopped and said "Hi." Evan and his two kids Hannah, 12, and Jack, 7, were sitting behind the truck in some foldable chairs. The kids were playing video games and Evan was people watching and checking out the cool rides driving by. I introduced myself and asked if the truck had been in a magazine. Evan said "No." We started to chat about how he got the pickup. He told me the previous ownerdid the restore, and he is putting his finishing touches on it. While we were talking, I was checking out the truck for major flaws like door gaps, Bondo, sanding marks, or bald tires but nothing stood out. The Ford was not flawless by any means, and there were subtle signs of wear if you looked very carefully. Although Evan's truck did not make it as one of the Finest Five winners, I kept thinking about how cool it would be to feature the truck in CLASSIC TRUCKS. Ten minutes later I returned to the '48 and walked up to Evan and handed him a CT Tech Sheet. The look on his face was priceless.

2/7

Evan was not always a truck owner. In fact, they stumbled upon the F-1. It was his daughter, Hannah, who was heartbroken about the sale of there '58 Oldsmobile Fiesta, and she found the truck searching on the Internet for something to fill the void.

The truck was all the way up in Grass Valley, California, a 1,000-mile round-trip. So Evan and his family made the trek to Northern California. When they got there they fell in love with the truck. The previous owner said he got a hold of the truck when he discovered the F-1 on the property that he purchased. It was hidden low and backed down into a rut. The iconic front grille and headlights could just barely be seen through the thick brush. Once the previous owner pulled it from its resting place of several years he could see the Ford was in good condition. The only exception was the rotten wood bed. The previous owner took the body off the frame for a complete restoration and painted it in his garage.

3/7

Evan was confident the pickup would make it back to his house in San Diego, because it had a modern running gear that included a Ford 9-inch rearend, front disc brakes, Ford 302 small-block, and C4 trans. Evan, however, didn't want to push his luck so he mothered the truck, taking the 101 and Pacific Coast Highway for a total of 12 hours of cruising time.

Once home Evan and his family spent 20-30 hours polishing and detailing the truck. Evan didn't like the seat so he ordered a replacement and installed it himself. The old yellow tires had to be replaced so Evan had a set of Firestone whitewall bias-ply tires put on to change the whole look of the truck. Evan said that the previous owner gave the Ford the name Ted, but with the black paint and the new whitewalls, the truck looked like it was wearing a suit. The family decided to rename it Theodore, because it was much more fitting with the new elegant look.

4/7

Evan and his wife, Joanne, own Cal Candid's a photography business in San Diego, where Evanuses the truck to aid their day-to-day business. Evan also uses the Blue Oval to cart his kids off to school along with the weekly trip to the grocery store. He liked driving it so much he sold his '05 Dodge Magnum so he could only drive the F-1. Now that's a truck guy.